Women’s Interprovincial Championship Final: Leinster 27 – Munster 7
Player of the match Leah Tarpey helped herself to a brace of tries at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast on Saturday as Leinster retained their Women’s Interprovincial Championship crown with an emphatic final triumph over Munster.
Brushing off their second round defeat to the Reds at Cork’s Virgin Media Park, Leinster registered 27 points without reply after initially falling behind to ultimately claim the competition’s top prize in devastating fashion.
Munster dominated possession during the early moments of the game and it took disciplined defence from Leinster to hold up UL Bohemians hooker Beth Buttimer as she attempted to touch down beyond the whitewash in the third minute. Leinster subsequently gained a stranglehold further up the pitch – thanks in no small part to the strong carrying of Ireland international Linda Djougang – before their arch rivals eventually broke the deadlock on 12 minutes.
After cutting inside off the left-wing, Alana McInerney breezed past a challenge from opposition full-back Robyn O’Connor and proceeded to cross over underneath the posts. This was the Clare woman’s seventh try of the tournament and was supplemented by a routine Kate Flannery conversion to give Munster a seven-point lead.
While this gave Fiona Hayes’ side some breathing space, the game was still very much in its infancy. Munster full-back Aoife Corey held up stand-in Leinster captain Molly Boyne just shy of the first-quarter mark, but the eastern province finally opened their account courtesy of a superb individual try from Tarpey (who was also player of the match in last year’s Interpro decider) on 23 minutes.
Leinster squeezed in front when Belfast native Nikki Caughey followed up her bonus strike with a 34th minute penalty and courtesy of an outstanding converted finish by international star Aoife Wafer (who had been introduced off the bench for Jane Neill on 25 minutes), Tania Rosser’s charges brought a 17-7 cushion into the interval.
Although this had Leinster in a strong position on the resumption, Munster weren’t out of the reckoning just yet. It looked like Dorothy Wall had gotten her side back into contention with a try, but a TMO check determined there was no clear evidence the versatile forward had grounded the ball.
This was a let-off for Leinster, but the title holders had ultimately moved into an unassailable position by the hour mark. After replacement fly-half Dannah O’Brien marked her first appearance of the 2024 championship by splitting the uprights off a place-kick, Aoife Dalton embarked on a lung-bursting break up the field on 58 minutes and expertly picked out centre partner Tarpey for her second try of the game.
Dalton was one of several players on display who will be hoping to feature for the Ireland women’s team when they face Australia in Kingspan on August 14 and on the strength of their clinical performance in this game, several of the victorious Leinster side could be joining her.
Earlier on in Kingspan, Faith Oviawe and Beibhinn Gleeson grabbed late tries to earn Connacht a 33-19 victory over Ulster in a third/fourth place Interpro play-off.
Scorers – Leinster: L Tarpey 2 tries, A Wafer try each, N Caughey pen, 2 cons, D O’Brien pen, con. Munster: A McInerney try, K Flannery con.
Leinster: R O’Connor; E Tilly, A Dalton, L Tarpey, E Roberts; N Caughey, J Gaffney; L Djougang, S Delaney, C Haney; R Campbell, E Corri; J Neill, M Boyne, C Molloy.
Replacements: A Wafer for Neill, 25 mins; N O’Dowd for Haney, 34 mins; D O’Brien for Caughey, 46 mins; Neill for Corri, 57 mins; A Hughes for Gaffney, J Farrell for O’Brien, A Doyle for Tilly, K Burke for Wafer, A Moore for Delaney, Haney for Molloy, all 76 mins.
Munster: A Corey; C Ugwueru, S Nunan, E Breen, A McInerney; K Flannery, M Wall; S McCarthy, B Buttimer, E Cahill; D Wall, C Bennett; C O’Halloran, J Clohessy, C Pearse.
Replacements: B Heylmann for Clohessy, 21 mins; C Finn for Flannery, 56 mins; E Considine for Corey, L Linn for Nunan, both 59 mins; A McGrath for Bennett, C McLoughlin for Bennett, both 62 mins; C O’Dwyer for Buttimer, A O’Flynn for Pearse, both 69 mins.
Referee: K Davison (IRFU).
